Fire alarm tape



Feb' 23, 1954 w. H. KLlEvr-:R ET A1. 2,670,419

FIRE ALARM TAPE Filed May 29. 1950 ATTORNEY q i nected in series with the fusible wire I5 and the conductors ll and 2B and the battery 2|. Thus it can be seen that as long as the wire I5 is not subjected. to undue temperature the circuit through the energizing coil 23 is` complete and the coil is energized.

Relay 22 has a pair of contacts 2li and 25 which, as shown in Figure 1, are open when the relay winding is energized, which is the normal condition of the circuit. An alarm 26, of any suitable type, is placed in series with the contacts 2t ,and 25 across a source of power, here shown as being the battery 2i. Ii desired, of course, a separate energizing source for the alarm circuit could be used.

As can be seen, the alarm 25 is unenergized as long as the circuit in its normal operating con.- dition and the wire le has no breaks in it. Upon a temperature rise suiicient to melt the fusible wire l5, this wire will break and open the energizing circuit to coil 23, permitting relay contacts '24 and 25 to close. rhis completes the energizing circuit to the alarm 2e and the alarm is energized.

It is apparent that a failsafe apparatus has been provided in that should the fusible wire i5 or the conductors il or 23 break for any reason at all the relay coil 23 will be deenergized to com.- plete the energizing circuit to the alarm.

The tape shown in Figure 2 is very similar to the tape of Figure 1 and shows the base strip l i with the two plastic strips i2 and i3d placed on the strip il. The fusible wire E5 is also similar to the fusible wire shown in Figure i and the covering strip iii is also the same, The only difference-between the tape oi Figure 2 and the tape shown in Figure l is that the upper edge or" the plastic strip i3d in Figure 2 has saw teeth v"il along its sine wave edge to further insure a break in the fusible wire lli upon the wire melting in ,-'f

that the saw teeth in the upper edge of the plastic strip i3 provides additional rises and depressions for the metal to flow into. A break inthe wire is further insured in that the sharp edges tend to sever the wire when it is softened by heat.

'Ihe tape shown in Figure 3 is similar to the l tapes shown in Figures i and 2 as to the bottom strip H and the top strip le with the only difference being in the manner of making the longitudinal division in the plastic strip positioned be- 1n the plastic strip ure 3 is the same a's the'fusible wire in the tapes of Figures i and 2.

The cross-sectional View of the tape of Figure 4 shows the paper strip l i with the plastic strips l2 and I3 on the paper strip il with the fusible wire i5 in the gap between the two plastic strips.

The paper strip it covers the two plastic strips, the fusible Wire and the gap between the'two plastic strips, As can be seen in Figure 4, the plastic strips i2 and le are of greater thickness to now when the wire melts due to a rise in temperature. The cross sectional views of Figures 2 and 3 would be Very similar to the cross sectional view of Figure 1 and therefore cross sectional lines have been shown in Figures 2 and 3.

This tape is easy to manufacture, is inexpensive, may be very easilyapplied to the walls of a room, and may decoratively harmonize with the color scheme of the rest of the room to provide a simple, reliable means of protecting against i'lres in any type of room.

Obviously, modiiications of this idea may be easily made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit cf this invention which is tobe dened and limited only to the extent of the appended claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. A tape for use in a nre alarm system, comprising: a first nat strip of flexible insulating material; a second strip of flexible insulating material on said irst strip; a fusible wire of small cross-section on said rst strip and above said second strip; and 'a third fiat strip of iiexible insulating material on said rst strip such as to enclose said second strip and said wire between said first and third strips, the thickness Yof said second strip being greater than the diameter of the wire,v providing a space for the wire, upon melting, to Iiow and break the wire.

2. A tape for use in a re alarm system, comprising: a first iiat strip of flexible insulating material; a second strip of flexible insulating material on said iirst strip, said second strip having an upper edge shaped to form rises and depressions; a fusible wire of small cross-section on said irst strip and above the upper edge of said second strip; and a third dat strip of flexible .insulating material on said iirst strip so as to enclose said second strip land said wire between said rst and third strips, the thickness of said second strip being greater than the diameter of the Wire, providing a space above the rises and depressions along the upper edge of the second strip so that the wire, upon melting, ows from the rises into the depressions and breaks the wire.

3. A tape for use in a re alarm system, comprising: a rst flat strip of insulating material having an upper and a lower edge; a second strip of flexible insulating material, having an upper and a lower edge, on said rst strip such that the lower edge of the second strip is adjacent the lower edge of the rst strip, the upper edge of the second strip having rises and depressions therein; a third strip of nexible insulating material, having an upper and a lower edge, on said first strip such that the upper edge of the third strip is adjacent the upper edge of the first strip, said second and third strips having such dimensions that there is a .gap bei tween said second and third strips; a fusible than the diameter of fusible wire in order that the wire will not be laterally supported by the base and top strips il and It with a secondary consideration of neatness in that the wire l5 will not rise above the plastic strips and thus cause a ridge along the entire tape due to the unevenness Wire of small cross-section in the gapbetween said second and third strips, said gap being larger than said wire, providing a space about said wire; and a fourth iiat strip of exible insulating material, having an upper and a lower edge, on said rst strip such as to enclose the second and third strips and the wire between the first and fourth strips, the upper and lower edges of said fourth strip being adjacent the upper and lower edges respectively of said rst strip, the rises and depressions o f the upper edge of thesecond strip causing the .wirepupon melting, to 'flow from. the rises into the depres- SQnS and break Athe wire, one of said lstrips hav,.-A

ing an adhesive surface for attaching the tape to a Wall.

4. A tape for use in a fire alarm system, comprising: a first fiat strip of insulating material having an upper and a lower edge; a second strip of fiexible insulating material, having an upper and a lower edge, on said first strip such that the lower edge of the second strip is adjacent the lower edge of the first strip, the upper edge of the second strip being shaped to form a sine wave; a third strip of fiexible insulating material, having an upper and a, lower edge, on said first strip such that the upper edge of the third strip is adjacent the upper edge of the first strip, said second and third strips having such dimensions as to form a gap between said strips; a fusible wire of small cross-section in the gap between said second and third strips, said gap being larger than said wire, providing a space about said wire; and a fourth fiat strip of fiexible insulating material, having an upper and a lower edge, on said first strip such as to enclose the second and third strips and wire between the first and fourth strips, the upper and lower edges of said fourth strip being adjacent the upper and. lower edges respectively of said first strip, the sine wave upper edge of the second strip causing the wire, upon melting, to separate and thus break the wire.

5. A tape for use in a fire alarm system, comprising: a first flat strip of insulating material having an upper and a lower edge; a second strip of flexible insulating material, having an upper and a lower edge, on said first strip such that the lower edge of the second strip is adjacent the lower edge of the first strip, the upper edge of the second strip being shaped to form a sine wave having saw teeth along the edge; a third strip of flexible insulating material, having an upper and a lower edge, on said first strip such that the upper edge of the third strip is adjacent the upper edge of the first strip, said second and third strips having such dimensions as to form a gap between said strips a, fusible wire of small cross-section in the gap between said H second and third strips, said gap being larger than said wire, providing a space about said wire; and a fourth flat strip of flexible insulating material, having an upper and a lower edge,

on said first strip such as to enclose the second and third strips and Wire between the first and fourth strips, the upper and lower edges of said fourth strip being adjacent the upper and lower edges respectively of said first strip, the sawtoothed sine wave upper edge of the second strip causing the wire, upon melting, to separate and thus break the wire.

6. A tape for use in a fire alarm system, comprising: a rst flat strip of insulating material having an upper and a lower edge; a second strip of flexible insulating material, having an upper and a lower edge, on said first strip such that the lower edge of the second strip is adjacent the lower edge of the first strip, the uppel` edge of the second strip being shaped to form saw teeth; a third strip of flexible insulating material, having an upper and a lower edge, on said first strip such that the upper edge of the third strip is adjacent the upper edge of the first strip, said second and third strips having such dimensions as to form a gap between said strips; a fusible wire of small cross-section in the gap between said second and third strips, said gap being larger than said wire, providing a space about said wire; and a fourth flat strip of fiexible insulating material, having an upper and a lower edge, on said first strip such as to enclose the second and third strips and wire between the first and fourth strips, the upper and lower edges of said fourth strip being adjacent the upper and lower edges respectively of said first strip, the saw-toothed upper edge of the second strip causing the wire, upon melting, to separate and thus break the wire.

WALDO H. KLIEVER. LINCOLN G. EKMAN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,152,932 Caldwell Sept. 7, 1915 1,347,735 Derby et a1 July 27, 1920 1,957,565 Wheeler May 8, 1934 2,059,510 Ekman Nov. 3, 1935 2,421,915 Tousignant June 10, 1947 2,423,537 Wheeler July 8, 1947 

